MATCHMAKER, MATCHMAKER

By Celia Cohen
Grapevine Political Writer

Before there can be a Republican ticket in 2010,
there has to be a little political peek-a-boo to see who
wants to run with whom and who can make the party swoon,
all while teasing out some interest from the voters.

The ticket-mating game was a-winking Sunday evening
on "Community Crossfire," broadcast on Comcast's public
access Channel 28.

The guests were Mike Castle and Charlie Copeland.
They could wind up as the top of the Republican ticket.
"Stormin" Norman Oliver, the show's host, certainly was
playing matchmaker. Never mind that Oliver used to be a
Democratic councilman in Wilmington.

This was Oliver's moment for a Tim Russert
impression. He was ticket-fixing.

Castle for the Senate and Copeland for the Congress
for the Republicans. Beau Biden for the Senate and John
Carney for the Congress for the Democrats.

Castle, the nine-term congressman and ex-governor, is
a definite. So is Carney, the former lieutenant governor
who lost the 2008 gubernatorial primary, for Delaware's
only seat in the House of Representatives.

It seems to be only a matter of time before Biden,
the attorney general, comes out for the Senate seat his
father left warming with Ted Kaufman, a political
confidant, to become the vice president.

That leaves Copeland, who walked away from being the
state Senate's minority leader to lose the 2008 race for
lieutenant governor. Copeland is playing coy.

It was something of an accident for Castle and
Copeland both to appear on Oliver's program. Copeland
already was booked when Castle announced he would run
for the Senate, so Oliver invited him, too.

The interviews came serially, first Castle and then
Copeland, but Oliver pushed to pronounce them running
mates. Castle helpfully tossed a bouquet in Copeland's
direction.

"Who do you see coming after you?" Oliver asked
Castle.

"That's a good question. Charlie Copeland's clearly a
strong possibility. There are people like Greg Lavelle
and Tom Kovach, who are state House members. John Carney
without a doubt will be the Democratic nominee, and
he'll be formidable," Castle said.

"This has a chance of being a fairly Republican year,
so hopefully it will encourage people to take an
interest in it."

Copeland was up next. "Are you running for Congress?"
Oliver asked.

"Oh gosh. I don't know. I don't even know who's
running on the Democratic side right now. What's Beau
Biden doing? If Biden can choose between running against
Mike Castle in a general election or John Carney in a
primary, I know where'd I be. Carney is 0-for-1 in
primaries," Copeland said.

"Oooooooh," said Oliver. Then he tried again. So what
about you?"

"Ah, an opportunity like that, you can't at least not
look at," Copeland said.

"I've had a lot of people saying to me, Charlie, we
want you to run, we'd like you to run, you're the guy
that can do it, all that kind of stuff. That's really
very flattering, don't get me wrong, but . . .

"You've got to make the decision that's right for
you. I would like to run at some point for something.
Maybe this is that opportunity, but then again, maybe it
isn't."

A classic. Before politicians say yes, they do not
say no.

While Oliver worked on the Castle-Copeland tandem,
Republican Chair Tom Ross was still sidestepping. "I
think we're going to have a congressional candidate
we're very proud of, along with a spectacular ticket,"
Ross said.

"Community Crossfire," aimed as it is at the city's
minority community, would not exactly be the forum
people would expect to bring them a Republican ticket,
but there are reasons Castle and Copeland were on the
show.

Castle lives in Wilmington and represented the city
during his 10 years as a state legislator. He is also
that rare Republican who sometimes carried the city or
broke even during his 12 statewide races for lieutenant
governor, governor and congressman.

It says something about Castle, but it also says
there were years his Democratic opponents did not even
measure up to yellow dogs. (As the expression goes in
certain Democratic quarters, I'd vote for a yellow
dog if he ran on the Democratic ticket.)

Copeland is a du Pont from Chateau Country, but he is
a favorite of Oliver's. In the 2008 campaign for
lieutenant governor, Oliver was with Ted Blunt, a fellow
city Democrat, but after Blunt dropped out, Oliver
switched to Copeland instead of backing Matt Denn, the
Democrat who won.

Oliver also favored Carney in his losing bid for
governor. It leads to an inevitable question. If
Copeland and Carney oppose each other, who would Oliver
support?